Delectable success at the ANZCCJ Gourmet Food & Wine Garden Party

A DELECTABLE SUCCESS AS ANZCCJ CELEBRATED THE BEST OF AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND GOURMET FOOD & WINE

Event summary by Sam Brustad, ANZCCJ Secretariat

The Australian and New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ANZCCJ) and The Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) hosted a Gourmet Food and Wine Party at the Australian Embassy on the evening of 7 September 2016.

Six different Tokyo-based restaurants served a range of Australian & New Zealand tasting plates with other local importers, stores and bars providing a range of fine wines, coffee, drinks and dessert.

Distinguished guests included Australian Ambassador to Japan HE Bruce Miller, New Zealand Ambassador to Japan HE Stephen Payton, and Chairman of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr Akio Mimura.

One particularly promising sector for growth in Japan for Australia and New Zealand is the gourmet food and wine industry. According to NZTE, Japan is the world's largest net food importer, with 61 per cent of its food consumption coming from food and beverage imports. In meeting the high expectations of this discerning, multi-billion dollar market there is huge potential for Australian and New Zealand businesses. For New Zealand, the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) will see all tariffs on wine imports into Japan dropped and the tariff on imported beef will be reduced from 38.5% to 9% over 16 years. For Australia, the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (JAEPA) provides valuable preferential access for Australia's exports and will support further growth in two-way investment. This will help continue the strong trajectory of growth for the two markets - particularly in the area of high quality meat, dairy, fruit and wine.

To help promote this trend, the ANZCCJ hosted its annual'Gourmet Food and Wine Garden Party' to showcase the very best of what our region has to offer. Despite tropical storm "Malou” bearing down on Tokyo and the fear of rain disrupting the event, it proved to be a huge success. Some vendors were moved indoors but the event was still able to make use of the Embassy’s outdoor patio area for those vendors manning the BBQs.

ANZCCJ Chair Melanie Brock welcome guests and several distinguished speakers, including the Australian and New Zealand Ambassadors to Japan. Melanie referred to the strong economic bond shared between Japan and Oceania through food and wine. Dr Akio Mimura, Chairman of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, echoed this sentiment as he offered a toast for the evening. The closing remarks were made by ANZCCJ’s Chair-elect, Andrew Gauci. One very lucky guest, Mr Masaki Gunnarsson from Edelman Japan, walked away with a premium economy return ticket from Haneda to Sydney courtesy of Qantas Airways as part of the lucky prize draw.

The restaurants that participated in our first ‘pop up’ dining event were: